Tunesday #5 + 2012 Highlights

Happy New Year, everyone! Whatever your hopes, dreams and goals are for 2013, I hope you get to where you want to be. For me, 2012 was an incredibly bittersweet year; the lows were soul-crushingly low, but the highs were better than anything I could have dreamed of. Here are some of my personal highlights:

Graduating from UCL. So glad to be out of uni, but not so glad to have no more student discounts!

Visiting Paris in June, including Disneyland which celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in 2012

Spending beautiful days with beautiful people

Forever a tourist in my own beautiful city of London!

Finally getting in touch with my long-lost inner bookworm; meeting Ranbir Kapoor during my magazine internship; Going to see Walking With Dinosaurs!

A much-needed holiday in Singapore, and most importantly – being ten feet away from an elephant ♥

I went into 2012 feeling hopeful, but also stressed/nervous as I was in my final year of university and had a ridiculous amount of work to do. This year, I’m just as hopeful, but also much happier; I’ve finally really begun to do something that I love, and a lot of the things I have planned for 2013 will help to build on what I’ve started, so that I can get to where I want to be. Well…that’s the plan, anyway.

What were your highlights of 2012, and what are you hoping to do/achieve in 2013?

Walking With Dinosaurs – Live!

I’ve always been a bit of a dinosaur-lover; when I was younger, I used to watch Dinobabies and Land Before Time all the time! Year 2 was one of my favourite years at school, because we studied Dinosaurs as our history topic (and I remember getting full marks on our dino-themed spelling test). So, you can imagine how excited I was to go to “Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular” at the O2 arena in London…almost as excited as the five-year-old I went with!

The show is hosted by a “palaeontologist” who talks us through various pre-historic periods, explaining how dinosaurs evolved over the years. While the website says the show is for all ages, the narrative is aimed more at the younger members. That said, I still found it pretty interesting, especially as they didn’t just feature the “famous” dinosaurs – the flying dinosaur was an Ornithocheirus as opposed to the usual pterodactyl that most people are aware of, and they went for Utahraptors over the more well-known Velociraptors.

I personally thought the life-size dinosaur models/robots/whatever-they-are were pretty impressive, and I got pretty into it…I even mourned a little when the Torosaur I was rooting for lost his battle! Did I love it? YES.

Is it for everyone? I’d say no. In fact, someone I know really disliked it, thought it was extremely childish and felt they’d wasted their money. The kids will love it. Dinosaur/Animal/Nature-lovers will enjoy it. But I wouldn’t say it’s something to go and watch just for the sake of a day out, particularly if you really couldn’t care less about dinosaurs.

Is it something I’d go and see again? Probably not. Unless they revamped the show, and had a whole new set of dinosaurs!

My favourite part? This particular exchange with the kid I went with:

S: Kavya, how long ago were there dinosaurs?

Me: A very, very, VEEEEERY long time ago.

S: Oh, so like…2003?

Me [thinking]: Way to make me feel old, kid.

A little update…

[1] No more student discounts, because…[2] I graduated from university! [3] Graduation OOTD: Dress from Lipsy [4] Olympic fever in London… [5] And I’ve been rediscovering my love for my beautiful city [6] A lovely summer evening by the river [7] I finally went over to the Dark Side, but I am IN LOVE with my Kindle! [8] I’m starting an NCTJ post-graduate journalism diploma [9] Learning journalism shorthand is one of the modules…how complicated does that look?! And then, sneaky jewellery purchases from [10] Accessorize [11] New Look [12] Forever 21

I did a 3-month editorial internship at Asian Woman Magazine, which was really busy/tiring, but such a great learning experience! Plus, I made out with a dog, modelled face tattoos and face jewellery, and interviewed Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor!

[1], [2], [3] I teach Carnatic (South Indian Classical) singing to children on Sundays, and recently my students have been spoiling me! [4] Summer Starbucks drink – Cool Lime Refresha [5] Autumn Starbucks Drink – Salted Caramel Latte ♥ [6] Winter Starbucks drink…usually it’s the Gingerbread Latte but I gave the Toffeenut a go this time! [7] These colder Autumn/Winter evenings are made so much better, thanks to the wonderful-ness that is…TEA! [8] Holly and Ivy growing in my back garden…is it too early to feel a bit festive? [9] Treated myself to a few sparkly bits for my nails, and a Revlon Lip Butter in the gorgeous “Raspberry Pie”

It’s been a busy few months since I finished university in June; I don’t feel like I’ve actually taken a break, as I started my internship about a month after exams finished – hardly enough time to recuperate after a hectic final year at uni! I’m beginning to get my life back in order, though, so I’m hoping to get back to blogging a bit more regularly!

Though the cold-ness isn’t always the nicest, the winter months are my favourite; steaming cups of tea, fluffy socks to keep my toes warm and just the general romance of this season…what’s not to love?! What about you, do you prefer summer or winter?

Until next time,

Lots of Love,

God Save The People

I came across this fabulous piece of street art whilst wandering around London yesterday:

I think it’s great, and absolutely love the message behind it.

I believe it’s by an artist from L.A. called “Mr. Brainwash” aka Thierry Guetta.  Some people think that he and Banksy are the same person, and rumour has it that he will have a summer exhibition in London!

I’m pretty meh about the monarchy; not fussed either way, and I had no qualms about heading to Paris for the Jubilee weekend earlier this month. Some people said I was “unpatriotic”, but I watched the highlights on French TV anyway, and had I been in London, I doubt I would have done much to celebrate.

What are your thoughts about the monarchy? Are they a vital part of “Britishness”? 

P.S. - Click here for more pictures of Mr. Brainwash’s new art in London [external link]